Ladies and gentlemen, we have liftoff.
In the middle of an offseason that has been filled with low-level moves and constant critique for the reigning Executive of the Year in Mike Elias, he reminded everybody why he is the best GM in the business.
On Wednesday night, it was reported that the Orioles had finalized a trade to bring 2021 Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes to Baltimore. Burnes is still only 29 years old, now entering his seventh major league season.
We know the details of the deal, which, if you don’t, you can catch up on them in our article from last night. This piece, however, is more of an introduction to the newest member of Birdland.
Burnes’ professional baseball journey began with the Milwaukee Brewers, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft.
Interestingly enough, Burnes’ Oriole career nearly started half a decade sooner. During the trade deadline of 2018, when then Oriole third baseman, Manny Machado, was on the market, the Brewers had been in talks to send Burnes to Baltimore as a prospect for Machado. Obviously, that didn’t work out.
Burnes burst onto the scene for the Brewers in 2018 after entering that season as the 69th-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com.
Burnes showing of being a top tier arm was put on display immediately. His initial season in 2018 saw 38 innings pitched to a tune of 2.61 in the ERA department. The 2019 and 2020 seasons were much of the same, as Burnes didn’t see his first full season as a starter until 2021, due to 2020 being shortened due to COVID-19.
That’s when Burnes made a name for himself, setting records and taking home the 2021 NL Cy Young Award. During that season, his first of three consecutive All-Star appearances, we saw something that had never happened in Major League Baseball. Burnes started the season by setting the league record in strikeouts thrown before allowing a single walk (58).
Safe to say, Burnes is certainly a control pitcher.
Later on that season, he tied another record, this time the record for most consecutive strikeouts in a single game with 10.
That first All-Star and Cy Young season in 2021 ended with amazing numbers for No. 39, including a 2.43 ERA to capture the NL ERA title, 234 strikeouts, an ERA+ of 170 and a WHIP at 0.940.
The 2022 and 2023 seasons were pretty similar to Burnes’ 2021, as 2022 was the first, and so far, only season of 200+ innings pitched for Burnes at 202. Collectively, between 2022 and 2023, Burnes struck out 443 batters to just 117 walks and had an average ERA+ for those two years at 132, as he has yet to finish any season other than his rookie year with lower than a 9.3 K/9 ratio. He also led the NL in strikeouts in 2022 with 243.
Now, getting to pitch in Camden Yards with that nice deep wall in left field, expect to see a significant drop in Burnes’ home run rate. Although his HR/9 over the last three years has been great at 0.8 collectively, there is proof when you look at the fact that he would have given up seven less home runs in 2023 if all games had been pitched in Baltimore.
What truly excites us the most about this acquisition is the incredible plus stuff Burnes has in his repertoire. Much like Kyle Bradish’s slider, Burnes has a single pitch in his cut fastball that has made hitters look silly for years now. That pitch’s average speed marks well above the league average, as well as exhibiting more movement than any other fastball in the game.
That pitch, paired with his curveball, which made opposing players whiff 48.8% of the time last season and held a batting average against of .133, is the groundwork for an ace.
Burnes is a bonafide ace and top tier starter in this league. Besides his first two seasons, he has never finished outside of the top eight in Cy Young voting and even earned himself a 15th place MVP finish in 2021 to go along with his shiny Cy Young Award.
Now, we will get to see a battery combination of Burnes to Rutschman. If you think pitching to Rutschman had helped countless pitchers already like Bradish, Rodriguez and Kremer, just wait until we see what Burnes can do.
What do you think of the Burnes trade with Milwaukee? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter (X) and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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